BEIJING, June 15. /TASS/. NATO member states display a policy of double standards with regards to China and its defense spending, as Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian commented on the final statement of the NATO summit, where China was listed among threats to this military alliance.

"The creation of cliques and maintaining bloc policy as well as forming groups on the ideological basis and attempts to force others to pick sides - all of this contradicts the tendencies of modern era and peaceful development," he said. "On one hand, the North Atlantic Alliance demands from its members to increase defense spending up to two or more percent of GDP. On the other, the NATO states make irresponsible statements on those measures undertaken in the sphere of defense and modernization of the armed forces by China. These are typical examples of displaying the double standards," the diplomat emphasized.

"China’s military spending amounts to only 1.3% of the national GDP which is much lower than the ‘passing threshold’ established by NATO. The same indicator per capita in China is much lower than the global average and won’t reach even one-fifth of the same value in the NATO countries," he added.

The spokesman noted that the North Atlantic Alliance is "known for its historic misdeeds" and repeatedly provoked instability worldwide. "The global community will never forget, how the NATO states without UN sanctions were bombing Yugoslavia for 78 days. The US, the UK and other NATO member states used a bag with laundry detergent and a staged video as grounds for unleashing war against sovereign states, including Iraq and Syria," the diplomat noted.

"Chinese will never forget the tragic incident with the bombing of China’s embassy in Yugoslavia. This is NATO’s blood-stained debt to the Chinese people," he added. "China can never represent a systematic threat to anyone. We will decisively protect our sovereignty, security and interests of development," the Foreign Ministry spokesman concluded.

On Monday, following the Brussels summit, leaders of 30 NATO countries for the first time ever pointed to China as a potential threat to the alliance's security. The intent to contain China was documented as the new tendency in the organization’s development. According to the summit’s final statement, China’s growing influence and its foreign policy are in the fourth place among threats to the alliance. NATO argued that Beijing creates serious risks in the field of telecommunications, aerospace sphere and cyberspace. Also, the alliance is concerned by China's military cooperation with Russia and joint military drills.